Photos: Inside San Francisco airport's secure operating centre

From the observation room inside the secure operating centre (SOC) at San Francisco International airport, staff are able to check out every alert as they are raised by the technology analysing real-time CCTV footage.

This is less labour intensive than previous systems and more reliable as staff only check out events which raise alerts, rather than watching an innocuous event unfold on one screen while a threat goes unnoticed on another.

The reduction in head-count required means security guards can actually be deployed more effectively out on the airport concourse, according to Guy Morgante, VP of services at Vidient, whose technology is being used under a federally funded grant programme.

Photo Credit: Will Sturgeon

Published: April 24, 2006 -- 11:05 GMT (04:05 PDT)

Caption by: Will Sturgeon

The system picks up a vehicle which has remained static for too long in a specified area.

Paul Foster, aviation security manager at San Francisco International airport, tells silicon.com it could be somebody who is lost and is sat reading a map but if the vehicle raises an alert, based on parameters such as vehicle size, location or length of time it remains stationary, the incident will be checked out.

Photo Credit: Will Sturgeon

Published: April 24, 2006 -- 11:05 GMT (04:05 PDT)

Caption by: Will Sturgeon

"We have cameras everywhere," Foster told silicon.com. "We don't tell people how many we have and how many we monitor because it's in our best interests for people not to know."

High security areas such as the fuel farm are closely monitored, as are doorways between secure areas.

From the observation room inside the secure operating centre (SOC) at San Francisco International airport, staff are able to check out every alert as they are raised by the technology analysing real-time CCTV footage.

This is less labour intensive than previous systems and more reliable as staff only check out events which raise alerts, rather than watching an innocuous event unfold on one screen while a threat goes unnoticed on another.

The reduction in head-count required means security guards can actually be deployed more effectively out on the airport concourse, according to Guy Morgante, VP of services at Vidient, whose technology is being used under a federally funded grant programme.